untangle
by undertoad
Summary: AU. Lucky never finds out about Niz affair.  One parter.


She snuck outside for a smoke, something that had been happening a lot more often lately. The act made her feel guilty—another lie. But if she was already betraying him, what was another betrayal to the list?

She remembered quitting the first time because he had commented to her that ashtray breath wasn't attractive. Hell, did everything have to remind her of them—of what they once were?

She still loved that boy. But the man in her house, her husband, was not that boy. It use to be enough, the facsimile of him, but it wasn't any more. That boy had left her one night, without warning, to stumble across his burnt flesh. At the time, her memories of him became misty and water-colored—the reality stripped away to leave a fairytale romance in her mind.

When he had returned, it was not a fairytale. He was not that boy. Reality hit her harshly, time and again—when she stumbled across him in bed with her sister, with Maxie, his addiction.

However far he strayed from that boy, she kept coming back to him in hopes that this time they would find him again and that he would be enough for her. When he wasn't, she had other vices that helped her forget.

The light from the street illuminated her wedding ring. She took a long drag from her cigarette before flicking it into the night and told herself again that this would be her last cigarette. She stole a glance down the road and snuck back into the house.

The following night she found herself hanging off her husband's arm at a party. They were at Jake's celebrating Lulu's engagement to Dante Falconari. The future groom's mother had shot Elizabeth a knowing glance after she caught her staring at her brother-in-law.

She knew that she should feel guilty but she was happy to note that her brother-in-law was sans his Emily clone. Ethan had been suggesting to Rebecca that something was going on with Nikolas and his sister-in-law and since then what little peace they had between them was strained at best.

When she finally caught his eyes, he smiled a wicked smile that made her blush.

She excused herself from her husband's arm and walked towards the back of the bar towards the bathrooms. She bypassed them entirely and walked out the back exit of the bar. She was waiting with her back facing the door when she heard someone else exit the establishment. She did not have to turn around to know who it was.

It was dangerous, to have her husband, his brother, and their friends on the other side of that door. But when he wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her close, his lips finding the column of her neck and settling on her pulse point, she could not help but lean into him and let him.

Before she knew it, he had maneuvered them against the door and his hands were finding their way under her dress. Her hands were on his belt as she felt the beat of the music from behind the door. He took her quickly and roughly, the sounds of their lovemaking concealed by the bar's music and the sound of the city streets. For brief moments they had been illuminated by the headlights of passing cars and she had lost herself in the chocolate depths of his eyes. She could feel his eyes even when the headlights disappeared and they were both concealed in darkness again.

When they were finished, they made quick work of straightening themselves up. They slipped back into the bar and just as she was about to slip into the bathroom to reapply her makeup and check herself for signs of her sin, he pulled her to him and kissed her tenderly.

She knew this was more dangerous. They could be seen in this hallway. And this kiss spoke of more then just lust. When he pulled away from her she resisted the urge to pull him back to her and slipped into the bathroom.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she found Lucky waiting for her.

His eyes studied her and he offered, "Is everything okay? You've been in there for a little while."

She smiled apologetically and her lie slipped easily from her lips, "I not feeling all that well."

"I thought morning sickness only was a morning thing?"

"For me, it's an all day thing. I'll survive-" She paused, being cut off by a sound further down the hall.

They both turned to look to find Nikolas standing there, looking a little pale. Lucky turned back to Elizabeth and sighed, "I guess now would be a good time to let everyone know our little secret."

Her eyes met her brother-in-law's and knew without a doubt that things had just gotten a lot more complicated.


End file.
